Can You File for Bankruptcy Twice?

To go for bankruptcy as a solution for your financial troubles, you’d have to think of how long the process takes. This matters because you’d have to plan for the time when you need to bounce back from it.

If you don’t have a plan or be able to get your financial situation in order, you might need to file for bankruptcy yet again. And there’s a limit on that. Getting the bankruptcy court order for the first time might mean having to count the days before filing a new one.

What the Rules Say

Technically speaking, the law doesn’t prohibit the number of times you file a bankruptcy case; so multiple filings can be done. What is barred is the time limit for waiting to file a new case. This time limit is specifically applied to the discharge orders on the debt itself. Meaning, filing before a discharge order has been given is disallowed.

Within certain parameters, a person may file multiple bankruptcies. For as long as you don’t color outside the lines of the law, then you’re good to go. Here are the limits set in filing a petition in court under Chapters 7 and 13, Title 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code:

Successive filings under Chapter 7 are disallowed if a discharge order is released in any Chapter 7 case within the 8 years provided by the law. You’d have to wait for the first discharge order to pass, then hang on for 8 years and then file a second petition under the same chapter.

Successive filings under Chapter 13 Bankruptcy are prohibited when the first discharge order hasn’t been released with the time frame of two years. What matters most is to wait out the discharge orders before filing a new one under the same chapter.

The rules are set for a reason. Getting bankrupt is tricky business. You’d have to make it worth your while because time and money is wasted on every petition that gets junked by the courts of law. Besides, getting bankrupt once is enough for the wise man.